Been in Live sound for the last 10 years..Full time employee to a major supplier , and then contractor to bands etc.. Am now going out on my own as a supplier. Wanting to initially buy a ground stack to cover max 2000 audience. Have good access to very responsibly priced D&B , so am thinking of buying the following.

FOH-12 x C7 Tops (or 4 x C7 with 8 x C4 tops seeing as the 4's have greater throw)12 x C7 Sub's6 x D12's (since their so much lighter than the p1200a's and you need less of them , so its cost affected to buy the D12's)PM5Drh

MONS-

Max x 12 ( would of liked the M4's , but cant stretch that far money wise just yet)D12's x 6 ( again , more cost affective than getting p1200a's)M7CL48

I would be thrilled to walk into a venue with this rig. Lots of flexibility with 2 digital consoles and plenty of speaker output for a crowds of that size.

Thanks for the response Patrick.

So am now thinking of also adding an analogue console. Lots of engineer's spec them ( in my area anyway)and would hate to lose a show just because I didn't have one!Thinking of either going the cheaper route and getting a XL200 ,or XL250.. could also go with a H3000.. They sound great , but I'm thinking that there to just too large to be practical.

Sam, a couple of points,- the C7 Top is 75deg(H) whereas C4 is 35deg, therefore much more suitable for deploying in the multiples you're suggesting. You're unlikely to want to array more than two C7 TOPs together, they're good in singles for small affairs and for front fills, on a bigger C4 system, so I understand your thoughts on getting both.- as a total system, 12+12 looks rather top heavy. Bear in mind one "stack" of C7 in d&b speak consists of 2 x C7 SUBs and one C7 top. A stack of C4 is 1 SUB + 1 TOP, but that's as there's an assumption you'll be running B2s underneath, as C4 SUBs don't play low enough for most applications.- as an aside, you should pick up secondhand C4 cheaper than C7, there's a lot more of it about.

So am now thinking of also adding an analogue console. Lots of engineer's spec them ( in my area anyway)and would hate to lose a show just because I didn't have one!Thinking of either going the cheaper route and getting a XL200 ,or XL250.. could also go with a H3000.. They sound great , but I'm thinking that there to just too large to be practical.

Sam, a couple of points,- the C7 Top is 75deg(H) whereas C4 is 35deg, therefore much more suitable for deploying in the multiples you're suggesting. You're unlikely to want to array more than two C7 TOPs together, they're good in singles for small affairs and for front fills, on a bigger C4 system, so I understand your thoughts on getting both.- as a total system, 12+12 looks rather top heavy. Bear in mind one "stack" of C7 in d&b speak consists of 2 x C7 SUBs and one C7 top. A stack of C4 is 1 SUB + 1 TOP, but that's as there's an assumption you'll be running B2s underneath, as C4 SUBs don't play low enough for most applications.

+1, you didn't provide much detail about the potential venues, events or acts for this rig but I am curious as to how you plan to deploy the quantities of FOH boxes you have noted.

Is this going to be your only rig? Are there potential cross rental opportunities in your area? How do you plan on splitting inputs for monitors and FOH?

Sam, a couple of points,- the C7 Top is 75deg(H) whereas C4 is 35deg, therefore much more suitable for deploying in the multiples you're suggesting. You're unlikely to want to array more than two C7 TOPs together, they're good in singles for small affairs and for front fills, on a bigger C4 system, so I understand your thoughts on getting both.- as a total system, 12+12 looks rather top heavy. Bear in mind one "stack" of C7 in d&b speak consists of 2 x C7 SUBs and one C7 top. A stack of C4 is 1 SUB + 1 TOP, but that's as there's an assumption you'll be running B2s underneath, as C4 SUBs don't play low enough for most applications.- as an aside, you should pick up secondhand C4 cheaper than C7, there's a lot more of it about.

Thanks so much for input. Very helpful. Leaning towards just going with C7 , But need to put more thought into the configuration.The budget wont allow for adding B2's if we go for C4's . Going to need to rethink though , as you said , C4's are cheaper , and also there is more out there on the second hand market.Back to the drawing board!